Crude oil is formed from the decayed remnants of aquatic plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. Large portions of the modern day Middle East were once submerged under a large, now non-existent sea called the Tethys Sea.

This sea eventually disappeared, sealing large deposits of organic matter under a salty crust. Over the eons, this crust was in turn covered by layer upon layer of sediment. As the sediment was compressed under the increasing weight of the layers above, it hardened into limestone. About 15 million years ago, the shifting of tectonic plates of the region formed large, underground fissures. As the organic matter migrated through the layers of limestone, much of it seeped into these fissures.

These deposits of organic matter became crude oil.

amorze12/04/08

replied to: ericfischer

Replied To: Crude oil is formed from the decayed remnants of aquatic plants and...

Yes, and that crude oil was in turn converted into cold hard cash by a lot of arabs.

morri12/13/08

replied to: amorze

Replied To: Yes, and that crude oil was in turn converted into cold hard cash b...

The arabs just took adavantage of the resources of the land they lived on - just like everyone else.

Geotech02/19/09

replied to: ericfischer

Replied To: Crude oil is formed from the decayed remnants of aquatic plants and...

Could we make our own oil from organic material in compost heaps using limestone plates.

woodchuck3102/12/09

replied to: amorze

Replied To: Yes, and that crude oil was in turn converted into cold hard cash b...

Why don't we do it here in the US.And if there is money to be made of it then I don't see why US. corporations don't do it.

woodchuck3112/22/08

replied to: morri

Replied To: The arabs just took adavantage of the resources of the land they li...

They did more than take advantage of it they got down right stingy! If it wasn't for the way that they got money hungry about it then I wouldn't be paying 3 dollars a gallon to buy gas.I don't care if someone takes advantage of something like this but not to where they have you castegrated by it.As far as I'm concered about it then wew should take all the oil we want and to hell with them. Yours truly w.

JohnEDPMalin02/11/09

replied to: woodchuck31

Replied To: They did more than take advantage of it they got down right stingy!...

Now oil is $4.11 per gallon. The American people love to be blackmailed and stolen from by Big Oil and the Oil Cartel. The strategic commodity is to be compared to the commodity of salt during the 15th-19th Century. Salt was used to preserve food, especially, meat. It was technological advancement in electricity, refrigerators and truck/railroad car freezers that did in salt as a controlled, contrived asset.

Now what technology will replace stupid oil in our lives?

freevoice02/16/09

replied to: ericfischer

Replied To: Crude oil is formed from the decayed remnants of aquatic plants and...

The entire midwest in the USA was also once an inland sea and the same process also took place. There exists many oil or crude deposits in PA,IND,Ill Iowa,KY,Mo.
and southern and western states. Texas I believe was a seperate inland sea basin and Texas and Oklahome have plentiful and larger crude deposits.This happened I believe in the Coal Age because of fossil findings.

freevoice01/11/09

replied to: woodchuck31

Replied To: They did more than take advantage of it they got down right stingy!...

You sound like an imperialist taking whatever you want from people that own thier rights and resources. Many agree with this attitude and many Americans have died fighting oil wars. What if the Arabs wanted our acricultural resources and just took them. Wouldn't you be screaming and declare war? I believe in international trade and countries selling thier resources and goods rather than war.

clandau03/21/09

replied to: Geotech

Replied To: Could we make our own oil from organic material in compost heaps us...

Go to Cornell University. Look up the creation of oil by compression of marble at mantle pressure and temperature. Dr. Thomas Gold(Steady state theory) (friend of Carl Sagan) continued the work of others, STARTED MORE THAN 200 YEARS AGO, on an In-organic synthesis of oil and gas.
You are on the right track, but temperatures and pressures have to be greater and conditions have to be anaerobic or reducing. Compost heaps are in an oxygen rich environment.Your environment has to be sulphur and hydrogen rich(reducing)
Write down the chemical equations when you have completed your thinking.Complete your understanding by doing the thermodynamics of those equations. Good Luck!
Chris.L

patsnsox04/02/09

replied to: woodchuck31

Replied To: They did more than take advantage of it they got down right stingy!...

Blame everyone but ourselves right? Oil is a finite substance. We have wasted massive quantities of this stuff. It's stored solar energy. We better hurry up and use the stored stuff to create better technology to collect the new solar energy or Earth's pop will bottleneck.

stephanos06/01/09

replied to: ericfischer

Replied To: Crude oil is formed from the decayed remnants of aquatic plants and...

The Word of God speaks about the flood in Noah's day.

rancher585807/22/09

replied to: freevoice

Replied To: You sound like an imperialist taking whatever you want from people ...

You are right, of course, but the oil companies and middle easterners did make hugh profits in the last several years. They will pay the piper when/if solar, thermal energy and wind replaces oil. Personally, I think they made a big mistake by raising prices so high.

wutzmyname08/21/09

replied to: stephanos

Replied To: The Word of God speaks about the flood in Noah's day.

I think the "Flood" was a more localized event for Noah and his family living near the Nile River which was prone to flooding. The story of Noah and his family have been embellished and passed along like the worst example of the children's game called telephone.

Just my humble opinion.

ScotslassUSA08/31/09

replied to: freevoice

Replied To: You sound like an imperialist taking whatever you want from people ...

When you look at the natural resources for the regions of the Mideast - they are limited. Wars have been fought for "possession" of those natural resources since ancient times. Those that were able to negotiate trades and markets, were able to provide the resources in exchange for those things that their country did not have and possibly avoid war. This is a cornerstone for international commerce even today.
Those who cannot learn from history, are condemned to repeat the mistakes made before.

eleaders09/03/09

replied to: leslieh

Replied To: Why is there so much oil in the Middle East?

Another question might be...where has all that water gone that used to cover the planet?

If it has evaporated and the world is still 2/3 covered with Salt water then how long will it be before that 2/3 is gone?

How quickly will the deserts grow?

eleaders09/03/09

replied to: JohnEDPMalin

Replied To: Now oil is $4.11 per gallon. The American people love to be blackm...

Free electricity... once you invest in capturing it.

Unfortunately the cost of capturing what we use is very high. Storing it is not all that practical YET but we're getting there.

andyjones10/14/09

replied to: freevoice

Replied To: You sound like an imperialist taking whatever you want from people ...

That's not a parallel - you're suggesting that the arabs are taking something that's yours by right which is not true. The Iraq war was an attack largely motivated by a desire to control middle eastern politics and oil. That is an imperialist action.
You do not own middle eastern oil, those that live there do. They have to right to exploit it as they see fit.
When you say you believe in international trade it seems incongruous with your desire for others to do what you want.

freevoice10/14/09

replied to: andyjones

Replied To: That's not a parallel - you're suggesting that the arabs are taking...

I believe if you read what I posted I indicate that what is the Arabs oil is just that and we whave no just right to take from them or anyone else just because we want it.Yes doing so would be an act of imperialism and I do not support thievery but rather international trsde.I believe we congrue on our posts.Read again my post and you will find we congrue.
Perhaps you were reading someone elses previous post.
Thank you for the reply.

taylormade6710/20/09

replied to: leslieh

Replied To: Why is there so much oil in the Middle East?

Well, I support what ericfisher says in his comment based on science,which substantiates that the bible discribes where the garden of Eden use to be ,which was actually in the middle east..

taylormade6710/20/09

replied to: rancher5858

Replied To: You are right, of course, but the oil companies and middle easterne...

Oh, comeon guys ,! the oil war will continue as long as the americans want it, greed is still a sin whichever way you look at it

freevoice10/20/09

replied to: taylormade67

Replied To: Oh, comeon guys ,! the oil war will continue as long as the america...

To taylormade67--Yep you are right about greed it is a worldwide desease of mankind. As far as the Garden of Eden middle east location you may find something interesting if you search the word==== SUMER

kamar10/25/09

replied to: leslieh

Replied To: Why is there so much oil in the Middle East?

Because people in middle east trust in existence of God. And because of this the God giftef them.

nettro111/14/09

replied to: kamar

Replied To: Because people in middle east trust in existence of God. And becaus...

So is the lack of fresh water and workable soil a punishment? No, but God has been good.

freevoice11/14/09

replied to: kamar

Replied To: Because people in middle east trust in existence of God. And becaus...

We could have free electricity if we could capture and store lightning. The downside might be that we end up causing weather problems or something due to an imbalance of a natural process. Who knows!

aqualung386111/26/09

replied to: ericfischer

Replied To: Crude oil is formed from the decayed remnants of aquatic plants and...

Im so glad someone shown a fact than a religion on this topic where i am grateful for my givings by my god it still isnt hard to figure how a diamond was made than it just being there given to us....i realt wanted to know why there is so much oil in the middle east for a FACT .....HAPPY THANKSGIVING

marchtwin11/27/09

replied to: unlvdating

[POST DELETED]

Why middle east have more oil?

Maybe the middle east is different billion years ago. maybe the middle that we see now was more of life where prehistoric animals can live, where plants are abundant
but when it all died it turn to fossils which in turn to gas.

incarmaetion12/04/09

replied to: Geotech

Replied To: Could we make our own oil from organic material in compost heaps us...

I think biogas is the solution.

seasea12/07/09

replied to: amorze

Replied To: Yes, and that crude oil was in turn converted into cold hard cash b...

Those dirty arabs....wanting to cash in on their own resourses when the US military and related corporations have so many more civilized (profitable) uses for it.....and when it is there for the mere stealing.

Anyhow.....it is not by a lot of arabs but by very ugly dictatorial regimes (instaled by the US and the UK and often enforced by Isreal)who share this wealth with US and UK corporations. The citizenry (a lot of arabs) live in abject poverty in ugly police states directly because of and in support of this pirating of their resourses.

LcfrsMorningstar12/08/09

replied to: leslieh

Replied To: Why is there so much oil in the Middle East?

I agree with the others on their main points but in the United States there are vast caches of oil. In just California and Alaska there is enough oil to last about 300 years with the cars we have at the moment and we keep the same amount of cars.

We can last longer with oil in other parts of the US but there is so many environmental laws in the USA that prohibit the drillings to get the oils. If we drilled here in the USA the price of gas will vastly drop

LcfrsMorningstar12/08/09

replied to: Geotech

Replied To: Could we make our own oil from organic material in compost heaps us...

That is true. In fact Henry ford actually made cars out of hemp plants that ran on both defile and organic gasoline. FOrd thought we would be using organic plant fuels for cars. I'm sure if he had his way and he was not held back, he would make hemp cars and fuel them on Organic plant fuels. considering his organic made vehicles were cost efficient to both make and to fuel.

THe result would be a drop in cars prices and a big drop in fuel prices as well.

LcfrsMorningstar12/08/09

replied to: woodchuck31

Replied To: Why don't we do it here in the US.And if there is money to be made ...

Because the US government gets a lot of money from gas and if they allowed drillings here in the US instead of on foreign lands they will have loss in income. If the USA were still aiming to be Socialist as well as a Capitalist country we would have more money coming in to the country, more jobs, and less crime cause of jobs.

But the US uses many of the Prisons to make things, and as telemarketing. Resulting in them being able to sell more things with the help of workers who get paid worse then most 3rd world countries. MOst prisoners that work in the USA get paid around 7 cents a day. Not much but depending how long they are in Prison it could be as much as 10,000 if they are sentenced to jail for a long enough time.

allisa12/15/09

replied to: lasershow

[POST DELETED]

There may be wars between countries on small scale for water from rivers,but not 3rd world war.We have plenty of water if we use it without wasting it.As with money there is uneven distribution of water on earth.In Africa people have to walk miles and miles every day to get one bucket of water,whereas in rich countries millions of gallons is wasted on lawns and pools.Anyway if we try to put most of extra rain water behind dams to use in the dry season,half the battle is won.As far as middle east oil is concerned,it will not last more than 25-30 years at the current rate of consumption.We are finding new fields now and than,so we can not predict exactly.

11durena12/16/09

replied to: stephanos

Replied To: The Word of God speaks about the flood in Noah's day.

We should take advantage of the free resources of wind and solar power. If a bird is stupid enough to fly into a wind turbine, it deserves to die.

Richard901/05/10

replied to: clandau

Replied To: Go to Cornell University. Look up the creation of oil by compressio...

I am sure you are correct, but I recently saw a TV program which showed that Diesel fuel was being made directly as a by product from bacteria. I wondered at first if it was a wind-up. But the program was a scientific one and not a spoof. If this is true, then we need not wait 150 million years to make our own fuel. We will be able to make it to order.

I wonder what will happen to the Arabs then?

TrueGEMS101/08/10

replied to: leslieh

Replied To: Why is there so much oil in the Middle East?

Maybe the entire Middle East used to be where the ocean was before a catastrophic event changed the composition. As the oceans are more or less craters of mountainous ranges with sandy bottoms. It is a logical solution to a water problem spreads wide rather than deep and wide. Nature does think much better and efficient than any human being.

tesla01/09/10

replied to: leslieh

Replied To: Why is there so much oil in the Middle East?

Ok, here is the real deal. Only a few scientists know this and they arent allowed to tell the truth.

Oil does not come from dinosaurs or anything like that.

It comes from earth itself and in the middle east, as a result of randomness, the oil has come from very deep of the earth and created these "oil fields", and they happen to be near the surface. You can pump oil anywhere on the planet but usually you find rock and other stuff so you need to go to 10km or deeper to get to the oil. But in the middle-east, there is oil near the surface a lot. Continues:

Oil goes up like an elevator. You pump one field dry and after 20 years its full again. Why? Because oil comes from the earths center (somewhere deep) and it refills the empty caverns where it used to be after a field was pumped dry.

This is called abiotic oil and thats the real deal.

I mean comeone, dinosaurs? Plants? Please, thats nonsense. Middle east just happens to have large oil fields that are near the surface. But if you go 10km under saudi-arabia, there are same large oil deposits you find for exampel in Usa.

In alaska, there are huge amounts of oil but because U.S.A. needs a reason to stay in the middle-east, its not being pumped. Thats why everyone thinks that "usa needs oil so they are in the middle-east". No, usa needs bases around the world and oil is the best excuse for them to be in the middle east.-

yea, funny isnt it.
(this isnt a reply to leslie, its a reply to the thread, I only hit the wrong button)

11durena01/11/10

replied to: hectorgalo

[POST DELETED]

If only a few scientists know, and they're not allowed to tell, how do you know? Listen, oil is made by the decomposition of long dead organisms. oil IS being created, but it's not being created FAST ENOUGH to meet the demands of billions of people who use it to commute to work, to mow the lawn, or even to have fun on their ATV or snowmobile. We all know there's plenty of oil in alaska, but what's keeping them from drilling there is the wildlife and national parks controversy. Some people would protect the state of alaska with their lives, and they're not about to hand it over so some multi-million dollar business like exxon mobil can make more money off of it.

freevoice01/26/10

replied to: 11durena

Replied To: If only a few scientists know, and they're not allowed to tell, how...

What is the after effect of draining all the oil from the underground huge basins.I noticed in Texas the surface area is sinking. What would the effect be if sismic activity caused these areas to collapse. These emptied oil basins are thousands of miles long and many miles deep.

Fareedi02/02/10

replied to: amorze

Replied To: Yes, and that crude oil was in turn converted into cold hard cash b...

Why all those advanced and developed countries buy oil from foolish Arabs,and made oil consortium in the shape of mega oil companies which has monopolies of oil in their own countries?
As far as Arabs, they reinvested that oil money back to the western countries banks and loose all at Wall street. They only live on pardiems from western industrialised countries.

freevoice02/05/10

replied to: Fareedi

Replied To: Why all those advanced and developed countries buy oil from foolis...

The Arabs have also invested thier oil profit money into buying huge areas of American agricultural areas so that if the oil runs low they won'y be a worthless land of only sand dunes. I do not believe in selling any American land to any nation but I don't hold the purse strings do I. Big bussiness is selling us out again. Power wins again.

That's a good news,
they can't move real estate from America to their desert land and also they can be denied entry visa easily, American Immegration and visa athority is the most powerful entity of US government.
I am happy - coz, in the long run Arabs will be the losers.

freevoice02/05/10

replied to: Fareedi

Replied To: That's a good news,
they can't move real estate from America to t...

Faredi- I hope you are correct in your analysis of Americans being the winners but I have my doubts.
With Mega-Buck bussiness with the control of money and Power
they are all International and could care less about America. To them it's just a means to make money and more Power.They live outside the country and don't even pay taxes.Remember the Rich Queens,Czars and Kings never paid taxes only thier lower cast and subjects paid for the Kingdom.They will sell we the people out like a pawn.

woody6402/06/10

replied to: woodchuck31

Replied To: Why don't we do it here in the US.And if there is money to be made ...

We used to be the # 1 exporter of oit in the world. Because of the costs the oil companies couldn't make much of a profit, so it was cheaper to go overseas where labor was cheaper and profits were higher.

Fareedi02/06/10

replied to: freevoice

Replied To: Faredi- I hope you are correct in your analysis of Americans being ...

Freevoice - you are right the whole world is functioning under the tectics of manipulative people and they are benefiting from globalization. Recently they introduced funny new carbon tax which will be levied on the carbon poluters but on the other hand these same people busy selling and buying carbon stocks at the international stock exchange and grossing monies.

If you see the history of our civilization, exploitation prevailes in the name of religon, imperialism, socialism and communism, common people of the world always stay under the control of these manipulaters. Our present day society is a zero civilization on the scale of ethics and soon will be a negative civilaztion as its moving ahead.

freevoice02/07/10

replied to: Fareedi

Replied To: Freevoice - you are right the whole world is functioning under the ...

Yes Globalization is the beginning of The New Order. Country affiliation means nothing to the rising Power Structure for it is but a platform to become Richer and more Powerful and as it uses it's resources it is cast aside like a bone.These people just move from place to place and have only one affiliation and that is Total Control and Power. The world based on country and nation will no longer exist except for exploitation purposes. It's military will be used to justify thier means.This will be the millennium of total control by the Power Structure.This to some may sound grim and futuristic but now I fear that THE NEW AGE IS DAWNING.

Lorizin02/08/10

replied to: leslieh

Replied To: Why is there so much oil in the Middle East?

Hi, Leslieh,
I've just joined the discussion group and read through everything on the discussion feed.
I doubt that there is any more oil under the Middle East than most places around the earth. There's plenty of it in Australia, off the coast, in USA etc. Possibly it just hasn't been found yet in other places or it is deeper down than has been searched.
The oil is from now dead, formerly living matter, especially plants. It did not take millions of years to form. Oil can be made by man in minutes!
The worldwide flood of Noah's day produced immense quantities of ripped out plant matter, from grasses to giant forests, which under pressure has become oil.
For some scientific information on the why and where of oil, look at the website Answers in Genesis, articles, under origin of oil. I'd copy in the link for you but I see that this is not permitted. Also :
‘You can heat the organic precursor to oil, kerogen (a polymer derived from plants and algae, and found in certain rocks), in the absence of oxygen and get oil in seconds. And even at temperatures less than 300°C, this will happen by “hydrous pyrolysis”, in the presence of certain clay minerals, which are as common as muck. You get such conditions beneath the earth. I am not saying it takes seconds to form kerogen, then oil, but it certainly does not need millions of years—under the right conditions it only takes months, decades or hundreds of years.’

11durena02/09/10

replied to: Lorizin

Replied To: Hi, Leslieh,
I've just joined the discussion group and read throug...